• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson yesterday called on the Sugar Regulatory Administration and sugar federations to set aside their differences and start working together to address the continuing drop in sugar prices.
Negros Occidental Rep. Emilio Bernardino Yulo called for an investigation into the drop of sugar millgate prices, as he raised the potential of price manipulation.
The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has expressed support for the probe sought by Yulo.
“Despite the low supply and the steady demand for sugar, the industry faces low and declining sugar millgate prices,” the solon said.
“This defies any logical explanation and contradicts the fundamental principle of supply and demand,” Yulo further said.
If this continues, it will affect the economy of Negros, Lacson said, noting that majority of the planters cannot understand why this is happening.
The United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines (UNIFED) claim that traders are manipulating sugar prices by hoarding the supply they bought for a low price to increase its cost.
The Sugar Council, composed of National Federation of Sugarcane Planters, Confederation of Sugar Producers Association Inc., and the Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers, along with NACUSIP, also asked SRA for an explanation on why sugar prices have been on a downward trend.
The SRA has rejected claims of an oversupply of sugar, which has been blamed for the decline in millgate prices.
“I am hoping that the players from each sugar federation will sit down, set aside differences, and try to solve the problem of the very low prices of sugar,” Lacson said.*
